Avondale V by Toby Neighbors Read Free Book Online Page B

none louder than the soldiers on the city walls, when the sound of a rumble made the crowd grow quiet. It was like a long roll of thunder, but it didn’t crash or abate—it only grew louder.
    “What is that?” Olyva asked.
    “I don’t know,” Rafe said.
    Then the ground began to trembled and shake. People in the palace garden screamed, and the shaking only grew worse. Rafe grabbed Olyva tightly with one hand and Desyra with the other. They nearly ran over the priest as they backed into the shelter of the willow tree’s swaying boughs. The earl’s guards appeared from the shadows and practically carried him back into the palace.
    “I’m scared!” Desyra shouted, trying to be heard over the rumble.
    “Everything will be okay—just stay with me,” Rafe said, trying to reassure her.
    “Addoni help us,” the priest said in a voice pitched high with fear.
    “It’s the mountain,” Olyva said. “Something’s happening. I can feel it.”
    “What?” Rafe asked.
    “There’s movement, deep inside the mountain.”
    “Movement?” Rafe asked. “How is that possible?”
    “The volcano,” Olyva said. “It’s waking up.”
    There was a massive hissing sound, and the rumble subsided. The shaking stopped, but the sounds of panic didn’t.
    “Should we help?” Olyva asked.
    “I don’t think there is anything to be done,” Rafe said. “Are we safe?”
    “I think so,” Olyva said. “I can feel tremors in the ground, but they don’t seem to be dangerous.”
    “Is it over?” Desyra asked.
    Olyva hugged her sister. Rafe noticed that the priest looked terrified.
    “We should get to the palace,” Rafe said. “You need to tell the earl what you felt.”
    “If you think that’s a good idea,” Olyva said.
    “Why wouldn’t it be?” Rafe asked.
    “I don’t know—I guess I don’t like being the bearer of bad news.”
    “At least it didn’t disrupt the wedding. We’re married now.”
    Olyva smiled and put a hand on Rafe’s shoulder. There was a look in her eye that Rafe liked. The sounds of panic were dying down, and the hissing noise had stopped. As they stepped out of the willow tree’s canopy, they failed to notice that many of the bright stars overhead were blotted out. Instead they hurried across the beautiful garden and into the palace.
    “Not so fast,” Olyva warned Rafe. “This dress wasn’t made for running.”
    “You look beautiful,” Rafe said.
    “Like a princess,” Desyra said happily.
    “You should go to Mother—she’ll be worried about you,” Olyva told her youngest sister.
    “All right, but I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
    “Of course. You’re going to help me, remember? Let’s meet in the feasting hall as soon as you’ve had some breakfast.”
    Desyra gave her sister a big hug and then hurried away. Olyva gave Rafe another look, but this time it wasn’t romantic. He could sense the warning in her eyes.
    “Is it bad?” he asked.
    “This city is in danger,” Olyva said. “And there’s nothing we can do to save it.”
    “What are you saying?”
    “I’m saying this mountain is going to erupt again, and when it does, there will be no more Avondale.”

Chapter 8
    Tiberius
    The encounter with the dragon left Tiberius feeling insecure. So far their combined efforts had been enough to see them through the dangers of the blighted lands, but with Rafe and Olyva still in Avondale, it was as if he had lost his right arm.
    Sleep was elusive, and when dawn broke on the second day of their trip, Tiberius slipped from the little cabin where Lexi lay sleeping, her face still stained with dragon blood. Dancer opened one big eye, then settled in deeper beside Lexi and went back to sleep. Tiberius moved slowly. His back was a mass of pain. The muscles along his spine were knotted and strained. He could still feel the void in his back where the Balestone had been. It was worse than an open wound, constantly burning and radiating a terrible ache through his entire body.
    He